5 Ways to Strengthen Your IT Disaster Recovery
Severe weather, data breaches and global hacking attempts can have a disastrous effect on businesses, costing them a lot of money for every minute of unplanned downtime.
Instead of letting the unthinkable damage your business, fight back with these five strategies:
Back Up Your Data to the Cloud
After natural disasters, businesses can find their physical equipment and servers submerged in water. Storing data on-site is convenient, but an unexpected disaster can wipe away years of information in the blink of an eye. Migrating your data to the cloud means your information is protected and readily available — and you’ll never have to start from scratch.
Prepare for a Remote Workforce
Remote workforces have become more than a trend. Businesses must be prepared for employees to perform work outside of their office workspaces, so having a plan in place that will allow your team to access necessary tools from any Internet-enabled location is essential.
Monitor for Breaches and Respond Quickly
A massive breach of data from Equifax — one of the three largest credit agencies in the US — lasted from May to July 2017 and wasn’t reported publicly until September. The Social Security, credit card and driver’s license numbers of more than 145 million consumers were compromised, and victims rushed to protect themselves against potential identity thieves. Avoid losing your customers’ trust by proactively monitoring for breaches, shutting them down promptly and providing a full inventory of the damage to those affected.
Don’t Underestimate Human Error
People are unpredictable — a large majority of cybersecurity issues stem from human behavior. Employee negligence is the number one cause of data breaches at small to medium-sized businesses. Comprehensive training can close the gap, but it’s not foolproof. Combine your team’s efforts with strong cyber security policies.
Update Outdated Software Programs
The WannaCry Ransomware Attack, which resulted in hackers taking control of more than 200,000 computers in 150 countries, targeted weak and outdated software for which a patch was already available. Hospitals, airlines, police departments and more were brought to a halt, and paying the ransom did not result in the return of data. Update your software regularly to fix vulnerabilities and avoid becoming an easy target for hackers.
If you’re running a business and don’t have an effective disaster recovery plan, this isn’t the time to panic, this is the time to act. A solid IT disaster recovery plan will protect your business and get you back up and running with minimal — if any —hassle and downtime.
Unsure where to start? Our expert team will take the time to learn the ins and outs of your business to develop and implement a customized recovery plan that fits the specific needs of your industry. Stop running on borrowed time. Contact us today to get started. <<link to contact page>>